wetsuit thickness and weighting....

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fishmunger

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• May 9, 2007

• #1

Hey guys, just got back from a dive, and I've finally got my weighting nailed. However, I was diving with a 4mm suit, and soon I will have a 7mm. I was wondering it there was some kind of general rule like: 1mm neoprene =+2 lbs weight, or?? I just want to get it close to ballpark and have no idea where to begin...

thanks,

Nate

 

ianw2

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• May 9, 2007

• #2

Depends upon the size of the suit. An XS will take a lot less weight than my XXL to sink it.

You could take a large container...such as the clean garbage can you use to rinse your gear. Fill the can with water. Put wieghts on your 4mm suit unit it sinks. The do the same thing with your 7mm suit. The difference between the two weight loads is the amount you should add to your weighting to dive with your new 7mm suit.

Ian

 

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fishmunger

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• May 10, 2007

• #3

hmm thats interesting...I'm about a Med-large btw, 6' 170 lbs. I might have to try the sink method.

thanks

 

ron63

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• May 11, 2007

• #4

According to the PADI Adventures in Diving Manual in the chapter on Peak Performance Buoyancy...7mm suit with hood and gloves, 10% of your body weight + 3 - 5 lbs. This formula is for salt water. Don't know how accurate it is since I don't dive a 7mm suit and have not tried it, but it might put you in the ballpark.

Ron

 

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miketsp

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• May 11, 2007

• #5

There are a lot of medical/health sites with formulae for body area. My body area is 1,9m2 so each mm means 1,9kg additional to a first approximation.